Difficulty: Advanced
France
Danièle Gerkens, who decided to give up sugar for a year, discovered some unexpected benefits on her health. She claims that she looks younger, feels healthier, and is free of cravings, but she cautions that everyone reacts differently. You can read another interview with her here.
Difficulty: Advanced
France
Danièle Gerkens, a journalist working for Elle magazine, decided to eliminate sugar from her diet for a year. She related her experience in her book Zéro Sucre, explaining that sugar is indeed an addiction, similar to a drug addiction. Are you ready to give up your sweet tooth?
Difficulty: Advanced
France
Rokhaya Diallo draws a parallel between incidents of racial discrimination and police brutality in the United States and similar incidents in French suburbs. She notes that young people are mobilizing and becoming more politically engaged in the aftermath of the infamous Théo case.
Difficulty: Advanced
France
Activist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo talks about racial tensions between the police and young people in French working-class suburbs. She calls for better police training and more accountability to prevent violence against young people of color.
Difficulty: Advanced
France
Many residents of Aulnay-sous-Bois have been reporting instances of police hostility in the town. In this segment, journalists show testimonies gathered from residents to a police official, who hopes that both sides will be able to rise above the situation and seek a permanent solution.
Difficulty: Advanced
France
Journalists spent a week in Aulnay-sous-Bois interviewing young people about ongoing issues and clashes with the police. In the Cité des Trois Mille district, which includes 3,000 public housing units, cultural and sporting organizations are stepping in to make up for the lack of public services.
Difficulty: Advanced
France
The twenty-seven-year-old rapper Maître Gims talks about a change of direction in his career path. He decided to leave his rap group Sexion d'Assaut to sing solo for a while. He assures us that it's an amicable agreement and that he is looking forward to spreading his wings.
Difficulty: Advanced
France
Alessandro becomes a pique-assiette (freeloader, literally "plate-stealer") for a day with his friend Marc Antoine who takes him to rue Montorgueil in the second arrondissement of Paris. What's the big attraction? Friendly shopkeepers give out free food and wine samples daily.
Difficulty: Advanced
France
Alessandro visits with some chefs on the occasion of the launch of their book, "Les Grandes gueules et leurs recettes" (Big Mouths and Their Recipes). They take their profession very seriously and are perfectionists like the famous Vatel, King Louis XIV's chef, who was so distraught when a seafood delivery was delayed that he ran a sword through his stomach. Modern chefs need to keep their sense of humor. They are, thankfully, no longer at the mercy of a powerful king, but the Internet can be just as unforgiving.
Difficulty: Advanced
Canada, France
Oliver concludes this eleven-part series with a visit to Fort Chambry, where French and British armies fought over new Canadian territories. How did this affect the present? Olivier leaves us to draw our own conclusions and assures us that he is fond of the Québécois as much as they are fond of him. He shares his final impressions of Quebec in a lovely song at the end.
Difficulty: Advanced
Canada, France
In part 6 of Le Québec parle aux Français, the interviewees compare and contrast the immigrant situation in France and Quebec. France, being a smaller country, creates additional pressure for immigrants, while in Quebec, immigrants do rather well. Later, Olivier treats us to a little song he wrote himself.
Difficulty: Advanced
Canada, France
French Canada is a cultural mosaic that is still exploring its identity. Some French Canadians feel more American than French, while others feel more of an allegiance to their French roots. Somehow, a Quebecois nation is emerging out of all this, but not without some growing pains.
Difficulty: Advanced
Canada, France
One might think that the push to remove anglicisms from the French language would be stronger in France, but the larger movement to "purify" French is actually happening in Quebec. Many Québécois worry that the French language is endangered in Canada, and the Quebec government has taken measures to preserve it by inventing new words instead of borrowing from English. That's why an email is still un email in France, but un courriel in Quebec.
Difficulty: Advanced
Canada
The situation of the French language in Quebec is controversial and complex. Montreal was an English-speaking city until 1920, and it wasn't until the passage of Law 101 in 1977 that French became the official language of Quebec. According to some of the interviewees in this video, Québécois French is in a precarious position once again, with municipal signage and corporate names in Montreal reverting to English, as well as shopkeepers who refuse to speak French.
Difficulty: Advanced
Canada
In the second episode of Le Québec parle aux Français, we learn more about the complex relationship between the French and the Quebecois throughout history. We also learn about the evolution of the French language in Quebec—according to a former Prime Minister of Quebec, the province even "spoke French before France"!
Are you sure you want to delete this comment? You will not be able to recover it.